You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is.

Ellen Degeneres

While most have you have enjoyed the Holiday Season, a number of you are most likely thinking that you need to get your fitness and nutrition routine back on track. Whether it is losing the "last 15 pounds" of fat or wanting to kick start a program to get you on your path to your ideal weight goals, The Last 15, a book by Joey Shulman (a Chiropractor and nutritionist), provides sound advice on achieving your healthy weight.

Labels: exercise. fitness, nutrition, protein

What is protein’s chief function?

Protein is used for building and repairing muscles, tissues, red blood cells, hair and finger nails and for synthesizing hormones. Protein is necessary for reducing the risk of iron deficiency anemia and to improve healing. Excess protein does NOT build muscle bulk—strength training does.

How much protein do I need?

To determine your daily needs, simply multiply your weight in pounds by one of the following:

Type	Multiplier
Sedentary Adult	0.4
Active Adult	0.4 to 0.6
Growing Athlete	0.6 to 0.9
Adult Building Muscle Mass	0.6 to 0.9

The above information was taken from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook

What foods should I eat to get protein?

It's easy to get your protein requirements because protein is found in most foods. The following are some examples of foods and their protein levels.

• Meat, poultry and fish have 7 grams per ounce
• Beans, dried peas, lentils have 7 grams per 1/2 cup cooked
• One large egg has 7 grams

It is possible for athletes to get enough protein by eating a balanced diet. Protein supplements may not be necessary, but they can be a convenient way to increase protein intake, especially for vegans.

Should I eat before I workout?

A healthy snack before you exercise will help energize your workout. A preexercise snack will help:

1. Prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) with its symptoms of lightheadedness, fatigue, blurred vision, and indecisiveness—all of which can interfere with top performance!
2. Settle your stomach, absorb some of the gastric juices, and reduce hunger.
3. Fuel your muscles, both with food eaten in advance that is stored as glycogen, and with food eaten within an hour of exercise

Does it matter what I eat after my workout?

What you eat within the first few minutes after a workout is known as your “recovery meal.” This small meal is the most important and underrated part of training. It sets the stage for how you will feel for the rest of the day and affects the next training session.

Recovery eating is essentially reloading the muscles with glycogen. Fifteen to thirty minutes after exercising, the muscles are like sponges, waiting to refill the glycogen stores that have just been exhausted. If athletes refill within this time range, they’ll be revved to go. If they miss their window of opportunity, they’ll feel sluggish and lazy for the next event.

Carbohydrates coupled with protein appear to be the most effective combination for restoring glycogen. Eating a snack (such as a peach with yogurt) within fifteen minutes of the end of a workout and then eating a regular meal two hours later maximizes muscle receptivity.

Labels: carbohydrates, diet, healthy snacks, nutrition, protein

Most of us are in the habit of starting the morning with an orange juice or stopping at Starbucks for a coffee on our way to work. However, one beverage that we should make part of our daily drinking ritual is water. It is an important part of your health regimen and care should be taken to ensure that you are drinking adequate amounts of the right water on a daily basis.

Why do I need to drink water?

Water’s main function is to maintain a stable environment inside and around your cells. Water helps you get sufficient nutrition and helps in elimination of waste in cells.

How drinkable is municipal water?

Many municipal water supplies are contaminated by a variety of chemicals. Drinking unfiltered water out-of-the-tap is not advisable.

What type of water should I drink?

You can consider installing a whole-house filtration system to reduce your exposure to toxins, heavy metals or chlorine. Alternatively, you can install a filtration system under your sink and use individual carbon filters on your shower heads.

How much water do we need?

One of he leading authorities on water and its affect on the human body is Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, M.D. In his book, Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, he suggests the following formula for a normal hydration level:

Your body weight in pounds ÷ 2 = Daily intake of water in ounces

Sodas, fruit juice and coffee contain water. Is that good enough?

Coke (or any other soda), tea and coffee are not proper water replacements. In fact, coffee, tea and sodas are diuretics that draw more water out of your system than they put in. Consumed in large amounts they are also responsible for drawing calcium from your body.

Juices are high in sugar and calories and so they should be used in moderation.

How do I get started?

If your water intake is much less than the recommended amount you calculated above you should increase you water intake gradually over a period of two to three weeks so that your body has time to adjust to the re-hydration process.

Does it matter when I drink water?

Yes. Here is what is recommend:

• Drink two eight-ounce glasses of water first thing in the morning and before eating or drinking your coffee, milk, juice or tea. This will replace what you lost at night and start your day hydrated.
• Drink one eight-ounce glass of water 15 to 20 minutes before each meal or snack. This will assist your digestion.

Labels: exercise. fitness, nutrition, water, workout

We all are aware of the important role calcium plays in building and maintaining strong bone composition. Several recent studies have shown that consuming calcium can have both positive and negative implications.

On January 16th, 2008 a New Zealand study was released which linked calcium supplementation to increased strokes and heart attacks in healthy postmenopausal women. The study participants were given 1000 mg of calcium on top of their dietary calcium intake of 860mg/day. (1) As a result of this study, members of the Scientific Advisory Council of Osteoporosis Canada released a calcium update statement suggesting that individuals calculate their total dietary calcium before considering supplements. (2)

In a different research study (3) conducted last summer, researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, found that fat-free milk consumption after strength training was a more effective means to increase lean mass compared to either soy protein milk or a carbohydrate beverage.

The study involved fifty-six healthy young men that weight trained five days per week (alternating muscle groups). The fifty-six men were divided into three study groups using a random selection process. Each member in a study group was required to consume two cups of a selected beverage (either soy protein milk, fat-free milk or a carbohydrate beverage) after their training session was completed.

At the end of the twelve-week study period, it was determined that the milk-drinking group lost twice as much fat as the next best group. On average, individuals in the milk group lost two pounds, individuals in the carbohydrate beverage group lost one pound, and no weight loss was achieved in the soy protein milk group.

The milk group also gained more muscle than the other two groups.

Both of these studies illustrate the importance of the source of calcium and its affect on overall health. The concerns raised with calcium supplements versus dietary calcium in the New Zealand study, as well as the benefits seen in the McMaster study of the consumption of milk after weight training gives you one more reason to ask yourself: “Got Milk?”

References:

1. Click here to read the whole article

2. To link to the calcium intake summary from Osteoporosis Canada click here.

3. S.B. Wilkinson, M.A. Tarnopolsky, M.J. MacDonald, J.R. MacDonald, D. Armstrong and S.M. Phillips. Consumption of fluid skim milk promotes greater muscle protein accretion following resistance exercise than an isonitrogenous and isoenergetic soy protein beverage. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 85(4):1031-1040, 2007.

Labels: nutrition, osteoporosis, osteoporosis treatment